I believe no single person personifies the spirit of the Chinese schools better than Lim Lian Geok (林连玉). Born as Lin Cai Ju (林采居) in Yong Chun, Fujian (永春， 福建), China, in 19th August 1901, he grew up in Xiamen (夏门). He graduated in Jimei Teachers College (集美师范学校) in Xiamen as the top student in Humanities in 1924 and was invited to stay back as a lecturer. He left China and came to Southeast Asia in 1927 when the school was closed by the clashes with Chinese Nationalist Party. He taught in Air Tawar, Perak, and in Java, Indonesia. He was vocal against Dutch colonial rule of Indonesia and had to flee to Malaya in 1931 when the Dutch went after him. He taught in various schools when he arrived in Malaya and changed his name to Lim Lian Geok, a name that he used until he died. In 1935 he joined Confucian Private High School in Kuala Lumpur as the primary school supervisor.
During the Second World War, he was a stretcher bearer for the Allied Commonwealth army and was wounded in action. After the surrender of the British army in Singapore, he slipped back to Malaya and worked as a pig farmer. After the war, he sold his pigs to raise fund to reopen Confucian High School and resumed teaching there in 1945. In 1949, he helped founded Kuala Lumpur Chinese Schools Teachers Association, and became its chairman in November the next year.
The Barnes' Education Report in 1951 called for the abolishment of Chinese and Tamil schools in Malaya, a proposal which he and many in the community opposed. He called for the founding of the United Chinese School Teachers Association of Malaysia (Jiao Zhong, one half of Dong Jiao Zhong) in the same year. He went on to become its chairman in 1953 - 1961. He declared in 1951, "Malaya is a country where different races live, it is a melting pot of Eastern and Western culture ... only if we live and let live, can we have the best of both worlds, and in the process give birth to a unique Malayan culture. If one race takes a superior position and discriminates and destroys the culture of the other races, including their mother tongues ... it will only lead to a break up of the country." How true and prophetic his words are today!
He also advocated the independence of Malaya from British colonial rule and encouraged local Chinese to take up Malayan citizenship. Partly through his effort, the number of Chinese granted Malayan citizenship jumped from 120 000 to 700 000 before the independence. Most of the Chinese then came to Malaya to earn a fortune and then to return to China. They regarded China and not Malaya as home. He told the Chinese community, "The hills and shores of Malaya are imprinted with our (Chinese) footprints. The trees and the grass are the results of our (Chinese) hard work. We might come from China, China might have given us birth, but we are inseparable from Malaya. We are only seeking our own ruin if we are not loyal to Malaya. Therefore, we must love Malaya, we must give our utmost to Malaya, and help build this country with the other races in Malaya."
In 1952, he advocated that the Chinese school curriculum be changed to focus on Malaya instead of China. He reasoned, "... we should reform the text books ... to prove that our young people are imbued with a sense of loyalty to Malaya."
In 1954, he said, "What it means to be a Malayan citizen is to be loyal and do our utmost for the country". In November the same year, he enlisted Tan Chen Lock's help to establish English classes in Chinese schools.
In 1956, he wrote in Utusan Melayu in support of Bahasa Melayu being the official language of Malaya even though he fought for Chinese to be included as one of the official languages of Malaya earlier on.
In 1956, he fought for the rights of Chinese to be granted citizenship in Malaya. He declared to the Chinese community the same year, "We must tell our children to be loyal to Malaya. We must tell them, Malaya is our home. The people of different races in Malaya are our brothers and sister. If Malaya should be unfortunate as to face an enemy one day, they must stand up and fight for Malaya. No matter who the enemy is, and where they come from, they must fight on the side of Malaya", hinting that Chinese in Malaya should shift their loyalty from China to Malaya.
In 1960, he opposed the Rahman Taib's Education Report which sought to abolish Chinese secondary schools. In an attempt to silent him, the Home Ministry stripped him of his citizenship, and later the same year canceled his teacher permit.
He continue his fight for the right of Chinese to learn their mother tongue even after that. In 1985, in an interview with the Star, Tunku Abdul Rahman said that the United Chinese School Teachers Association opposed the formation of the Federation of Malaysia. He replied Tunku in public, pointing out his error. Unfortunately, none of the government controlled newspapers was willing to publish his letter.
Lim Lian Geok died of a chest infection in 18th December 1985. His funeral was one of the largest ever held in Kuala Lumpur. His funeral cortege was more than a mile long. The Chinese community, especially the Chinese school teachers, regards him as the "soul" of Malaysian Chinese.
1 comment:
Thanks Victor!
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